Orphaned SoCal siblings from Guatemala working to support younger brother who lost leg after being struck by alleged DUI driver at Santa Monica bus stop
Gelvy Velazquez Ortiz and his siblings have stood together through the many hardships and tragedies life has dealt them."I was waiting for the bus and the car hit me. I lost my left leg," said Velazquez Ortiz from his hospital bed.
Last Friday, the high school sophomore lost his leg after a driver allegedly under the influence plowed into him while he waited at a Santa Monica bus stop to go home.It's a home he shares with his three older brothers and sister. "I came here four years ago; I came first then I brought my siblings over because we are orphans. We lost my mother to cancer, and we were living with my 80-year-old grandmother," said David Velazquez Ortiz, the oldest of the siblings.
The 23-year-old David says he came to the United States from Guatemala with a dream of a better life for his family. He works two jobs to help support his siblings - two of them still in high school."We'll need to rent a bottom floor apartment. Our apartment is on the top floor. He won't be able to get up the stairs," said David.
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